President Obama singed a law that grants lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents and their wives. It applies to presidents elected after January 1, 1997 and reverses a law that ended protection ten years after a president left office. The protection could have only been extended on a temporary basis by the Homeland Security secretary. The idea behind the law is increased terrorist threats and the youth and mobility of former presidents. The new law also authorizes Secret Service protection for children of former presidents until they turn 16.